J-Friends

J-FRIENDS
J-FRIENDS
Origin	Japan
Genres	J-pop
Years active	1997–2003
Labels	Sony Music; J-Friends Project/Avex Trax; Johnny's Entertainment; Universal J;
Past members	TOKIO; Shigeru Joshima; Tomoya Nagase; Masahiro Matsuoka; Taichi Kokubun; Tatsuya YamaguchiV6; Masayuki Sakamoto; Hiroshi Nagano; Yoshihiko Inohara; Go Morita; Ken Miyake; Junichi OkadaKinKi Kids; Koichi Domoto; Tsuyoshi Domoto

J-FRIENDS was a special unit made up of Johnny & Associates groups TOKIO, V6, and KinKi Kids. It was formed in 1997 to raise money for schools affected by the Great Hanshin earthquake in 1995. Until their disbandment in 2003 they were able to release 6 singles and held some charity concerts and events. In the end they were able to donate 836,951,855 yen.^[1]

History

In 1995, there was a big earthquake in Hanshin and Awaji in Japan. About 6,500 people were dead and 513,000 houses were crushed. To help such people, in 1998, KinKi Kids, along with fellow Johnny's groups V6 and TOKIO, came together to form a special charity-oriented group called J-FRIENDS, they sang songs to raise the money for Hanshin and Awaji earthquake victims especially for children, in which all the songs are created and being produced by many famous international musicians such as Michael Jackson, Maurice White, Diane Warren, Elton John, Jon Bon Jovi,^[2] and Koshi Inaba.^[3]^[4]^[5] J-Friends's first single "Ashita ga Kikoeru/Children's Holiday" (明日が聴こえる/Children's Holiday, "Can You Hear Tomorrow/Children's Holiday"), released on January 21, 1998, went on to sell over a million copies and ranked 12th on the annual Oricon charts by the end of the year.

Discography

EPs

Title	Album details	Peak	Certifications
Title	Album details	JPN ^[6]	Certifications
People of the World	Released: January 13, 1999 Label: Sony Music Records Formats: CD	1	RIAJ: 2× Platinum^[7]

Singles

Title	Year	Peak	Certifications
Title	Year	JPN ^[6]	Certifications
"Ashita ga Kikoeru"	1998	1	RIAJ: Million^[8]
"Children's Holiday"	1998	1	RIAJ: Million^[8]
"Next 100 Years"	1999	1	RIAJ: 2× Platinum^[9]
"I Will Get There"	2000	1
"Always (A Song for Love)"	2001	1	RIAJ: Platinum^[10]
"Love Me All Over"	2002	1

Videos

Title	Release details	Peak	Certifications
Title	Release details	JPN ^[6]	Certifications
Never Ending Spirit 1997–2003	Released: April 9, 2003 Label: Johnny's Entertainment Formats: VHS, DVD	1	RIAJ: Gold^[11]

References

^ "神戸にしっかり刻まれたＪ－ＦＲＩＥＮＤＳの足跡". Sankei Sports. March 18, 2004. Archived from the original on April 14, 2004. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
^ "Ｊ－ＦＲＩＥＮＤＳ東京ドーム年越しライブ" (in Japanese). Sankei Sports. November 11, 1999. Archived from the original on December 10, 2000. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
^ "Next 100 Years" (in Japanese). Johnny's net. Archived from the original on April 21, 2009. Retrieved October 23, 2009.
^ "Love Me All Over" (in Japanese). Johnny's net. Archived from the original on October 6, 2009. Retrieved October 23, 2009.
^ "People of the World" (in Japanese). Johnny's net. Archived from the original on April 21, 2009. Retrieved October 23, 2009.
^ ^a ^b ^c "J-FRIENDS" (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on March 3, 2014.
^ "Japanese certifications – J-FRIENDS – People Of The World" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 1999年1月 on the drop-down menu
^ "Japanese certifications – J-FRIENDS – 明日が聴こえる／Children's Holiday" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 1998年2月 on the drop-down menu
^ "Japanese certifications – J-FRIENDS – NEXT 100 YEARS" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 2000年1月 on the drop-down menu
^ "Japanese certifications – J-FRIENDS – ALWAYS（A SONG FOR LOVE）" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 2001年12月 on the drop-down menu
^ "Japanese certifications – J-Friends – Never Ending Spirit 1997-2003" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 2003年7月 on the drop-down menu

[1] "神戸にしっかり刻まれたＪ－ＦＲＩＥＮＤＳの足跡". Sankei Sports. March 18, 2004. Archived from the original on April 14, 2004. Retrieved September 27, 2021.

[2] "Ｊ－ＦＲＩＥＮＤＳ東京ドーム年越しライブ" (in Japanese). Sankei Sports. November 11, 1999. Archived from the original on December 10, 2000. Retrieved September 27, 2021.

[3] "Next 100 Years" (in Japanese). Johnny's net. Archived from the original on April 21, 2009. Retrieved October 23, 2009.

[4] "Love Me All Over" (in Japanese). Johnny's net. Archived from the original on October 6, 2009. Retrieved October 23, 2009.

[5] "People of the World" (in Japanese). Johnny's net. Archived from the original on April 21, 2009. Retrieved October 23, 2009.

[oricon-6] "J-FRIENDS" (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on March 3, 2014.

[JapanJ-FRIENDSPeople_Of_The_World{{{type}}}CertRef-7] "Japanese certifications – J-FRIENDS – People Of The World" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 1999年1月 on the drop-down menu

[JapanJ-FRIENDS明日が聴こえる／Children's_Holiday{{{type}}}CertRef-8] "Japanese certifications – J-FRIENDS – 明日が聴こえる／Children's Holiday" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 1998年2月 on the drop-down menu

[JapanJ-FRIENDSNEXT_100_YEARS{{{type}}}CertRef-9] "Japanese certifications – J-FRIENDS – NEXT 100 YEARS" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 2000年1月 on the drop-down menu

[JapanJ-FRIENDSALWAYS（A_SONG_FOR_LOVE）{{{type}}}CertRef-10] "Japanese certifications – J-FRIENDS – ALWAYS（A SONG FOR LOVE）" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 2001年12月 on the drop-down menu

[JapanJ-FriendsNever_Ending_Spirit_1997-2003{{{type}}}CertRef-11] "Japanese certifications – J-Friends – Never Ending Spirit 1997-2003" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 2003年7月 on the drop-down menu

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]